94 THE "SILTING UP" OF THE RIVER RODING.
Helix arbustorum in the Marks Tey district. I once found Limnea
stagnalis in quantity in a pond near Broomfield, some three miles
above Chelmsford.
THE "SILTING UP" OF THE RIVER RODING.
THE County Surveyor, Mr. Henry Stock, has recently presented a report to
the "Highways, Buildings, and Bridges Committee" of the Essex County
Council, which gives so many interesting details as to the course and present
and former condition of the River Roding, that a summary of his observations
deserves to be permanently recorded in the pages of the Essex Naturalist.
The object of the enquiry undertaken by Mr. Stock was to ascertain "whether
any cause exists which occasions the frequent floods, which, as I understand,
cover to a great extent the road to Chigwell and also show a tendency to increase ;
and whether any ready means can be found for reducing the evil.
" The course of the river from Woodford to Ilford Bridge is a very devious
one, the distance from the two points in a direct line from north to south is 3m. 3f.,
while following the river in its bends it measures more than seven miles ; in this
distance the fall of the bed of the river is 24ft. 7in. From Ilford Bridge to the
Mill Pool at Barking the direct distance is 1m. 5f., and in its course the river is
fairly direct, the fall of the bed being apparently 9 feet. The river is tidal to a
distance of about 7 furlongs above Ilford Bridge and navigable from the bridge
downwards. It is spanned between Woodford and Ilford Bridges by three per-
manent bridges, the first carrying the road from the Chigwell Road to the Sewage
Works of the Woodford Local Board, which is 24ft, span, the second by the
'Red Bridge' in Wanstead Lane, which is 30ft. span, the third by the Great
Eastern Railway Bridge at Ilford, which is, I am informed, about 40ft. span.
These dimensions give a fair idea of the general width of the river as it descends
thus far.
"I would at once, however, point out that at the 'Old Mill' beer-house,
nearly three-quarters of a mile southward of Woodford Bridge and on the
Chigwell Road, along which the river courses on its eastern side, the channel
for the water is only 16ft. wide, and is confined by retaining walls, which appear
to me to stand in the position of the 'Old Mill Race,' it is clear that if it is
necessary for the Sewage-works Bridge above it to be 24ft, wide that this channel
is insufficient. There was anciently a relieving 'bye pass' above this work to
which I will revert.
" With this exception, the river in its natural section, and the bridges over it
would appear to be of sufficient capacity to deliver the water on ordinary occa-
sions.
" I believe that in this exceptional structure, and in the state of the river
itself, ample reason exists for these floods which would certainly be vastly relieved
if remedial measures can be taken to reinstate an unobstructed condition of the
waterway. Nothing can be worse than the condition of the stream considered as
a water-carrier. It has clearly received no attention for many years, and yet it
is, from its winding course, one which requires periodical attention, for the banks
are peculiarly liable to: the eroding action of a rapid current, turning and
twisting in every possible direction, and at short intervals, in its descent ; thereby
silting up the bed, and causing the repeated overthrow of trees, by which its
banks are lined, very many of which have been undermined, and now lie prostrate